What draws me to the article Planning for Success is that it focuses on a great way to promote inquiry and deeper learning within our students. That method is called “PBS” or Project Based Science. The article goes through the components needed for, the pro’s and con’s of PBS, and what to expect when integrating PBS into the classroom.
Project based science is a method of learning where students spend a unit working on concepts within the curriculum to answer a main “driving question” that will be answered at the very end, usually presented in a summative (some artifact) to peers or some other audience that would be interested in the answer. The unit starts off with smaller projects and builds up to the summative project at the end, and through the whole process it is the job of the teacher to plan open ended projects, and scaffold to ease the transition from traditional teaching for students. Teachers also need to make some grades individual and others group grades so students are more motivated to participate (Dickinson, & Jackson, 2008).
One of the biggest issues when creating a unit with PBS is the fact that they take a lot more time than traditionally teaching the same material, however project based learning is better for students to get a deeper handle on the concepts being learned. Several of the other high points of this kind of unit are that students work together and students investigate their own questions while focusing on a central “driving” question (Dickinson, & Jackson, 2008).
Overall, I think that PBS in the classroom sounds like it would be the ideal way to teach. Students would be able to learn so much more from working with each other and from being actively engaged throughout the entity of a unit. I feel they would also learn skills that not only would be helpful in the classroom, but also how to think scientifically, how to collaborate to reach a goal, and solve real world problems.
Dickinson, G., & Jackson, J. (2008). Planning for success. The Science Teacher, 75(8).
Project based science is a method of learning where students spend a unit working on concepts within the curriculum to answer a main “driving question” that will be answered at the very end, usually presented in a summative (some artifact) to peers or some other audience that would be interested in the answer. The unit starts off with smaller projects and builds up to the summative project at the end, and through the whole process it is the job of the teacher to plan open ended projects, and scaffold to ease the transition from traditional teaching for students. Teachers also need to make some grades individual and others group grades so students are more motivated to participate (Dickinson, & Jackson, 2008).
One of the biggest issues when creating a unit with PBS is the fact that they take a lot more time than traditionally teaching the same material, however project based learning is better for students to get a deeper handle on the concepts being learned. Several of the other high points of this kind of unit are that students work together and students investigate their own questions while focusing on a central “driving” question (Dickinson, & Jackson, 2008).
Overall, I think that PBS in the classroom sounds like it would be the ideal way to teach. Students would be able to learn so much more from working with each other and from being actively engaged throughout the entity of a unit. I feel they would also learn skills that not only would be helpful in the classroom, but also how to think scientifically, how to collaborate to reach a goal, and solve real world problems.
Dickinson, G., & Jackson, J. (2008). Planning for success. The
Science Teacher, 75(8).
Jennifer C.